Transitions
by Shutterbug5269
Summary: Takes place several weeks after the events in season 4 episode 21. The transition of Kate and Rick's relationship from platonic to romantic.
1. Chapter 1

**Transitions**

**Chapter one.**

Kate Beckett hadn't realized how long she'd been staring at the empty chair beside her desk. She'd sat down, coffee in hand to get a leg up on the paperwork for this week's caseload, which blissfully had not been particularly heavy. The thought of working cases without that chair's usual occupant, Richard Castle was more heartbreaking than she could bear to contemplate. Even the puzzling behavior he had exhibited a few weeks ago was better than the thought of his complete absence from her life. This was the first case she had worked without him in nearly four years and she had felt almost dead inside the entire time she worked it.

Ryan and Espo, _God bless them_, had done most of the heavy lifting on this one, knowing that "Mom and Dad" as they liked to call them had some serious issues to work out.

Every so often Kate would look up from her paperwork, or away from Castle's chair long enough to glance at the elevator doors whenever she'd hear them open, secretly longing...and dreading that he would walk through them. She didn't have Ryan or Esposito to keep her distracted this time as they were down in holding, retrieving their suspect for interrogation.

She'd slapped the cuffs on him, herself just this morning. The boys had let her have the collar to keep up appearances with Captain Gates that she was more involved with the case than she had been. Javi had taken it quite hard when it had hit him that he had known Castle had been observing the interrogation during the bombing incident a few weeks ago. (when she had told the suspect she remembered everything about the day of her shooting)

The incident that had set Castle on a self destructive downward spiral of anger and pain directed at her. He and Ryan had later paid Castle a visit, she'd heard on very good authority and "convinced" him to come talk to her about it.

Kate turned her attention back to her still unfinished paperwork, when a crisp throat clearing next to her caught her attention. She looked up into the clean cut earnest face of Alexis Castle. Fresh faced, prim and professional, her hair tied carefully in a bun. Only the accusing glare of her pale blue eyes and the furrow in her otherwise flawless brow gave away the true ire she was feeling for her right now.

"I have the autopsy report from Dr. Parish for you _Detective _Beckett." emphasizing her title with just the barest hint of cold contempt.

"Thank you, Alexis" Kate replied.

She longed to bridge this gulf that had carved itself out between them. She wanted nothing more than to ask, no beg, the bright, young intern for her forgiveness. For the pain she had thoughtlessly laid on her father's heart by keeping the lie she had told him all those months ago secret for so long.

She had this epiphany not two weeks ago, shortly after Rick had gone on a two week sabbatical from the NYPD to tour the FBI's Quantico facility and do research on the Violent Crimes Task Force for an upcoming Nikki Heat novel, at the invitation of the FBI Director, and Special Agent Shaw.

Shortly after he'd left, Alexis had cornered her at a crime scene and read her the riot act when she'd found out her father had been beaten up while shadowing Detective Slaughter. Since dressing her down for that unprofessional outburst while on duty, Lanie had made a point of sending her to drop paperwork off to Beckett as a mild rebuke for being out of line without filing a formal reprimand when Alexis had begged her not to.

Today was different though, Castle was expected back from his sabbatical. Kate knew could tell by the way Alexis was shuffling her feet she was expecting to meet her dad at the morgue. She wanted to be anywhere but here, but was waiting to be dismissed. Kate signed for the paperwork and flashed her the barest hint of an approving smile which Alexis acknowledged with a nod of her pretty red head.

As she turned on her heel to retreat, the elevator doors opened, disgorging Esposito, Ryan, their suspect and a very animated Richard Castle regaling the boys with everything he had seen at FBI Headquarters. Kate rose and rounded her desk with renewed purpose, having decided what she wanted most, as Rick marched right up, and hugged Alexis tight.

"Hey there Beckett, how's the murder business?" he said with his customary good cheer.

"Castle," she replied, "not as much fun as I'd like."

This seemed to be the substance of their conversations lately since their big dust up. Kate began to say what she had in mind, but fate once again cruelly intervened...

The suspect, having twisted out of his cuffs, elbowed Ryan in the face, spun Velasquez around as she moved to stop him, and pulled her gun from it's holster.

"You've ruined everything you _bitch_!" he screamed as he brought Velasquez' service weapon to bear.

Kate reacted without conscious thought as Alexis screamed, shoving her to the floor under her desk while drawing her own weapon and shouting "Gun!" only to be unceremoniously shouldered into the floor on top of her, as the stolen Glock 17 barked once, twice, three times in succession.

The first shot grazed him in the arm, but Rick was spun clean around like a rag doll and slammed into the reinforced glass wall next to the murder board as the second round hit him high in the chest. The third penetrated the glass. Esposito's Glock 19 spoke once almost in unison with a recovered Ryan's Glock 17, ending the exchange as the would be assailant crumpled to the floor like a marionette with it's strings cut.

A chorus of "Castle!" and "Daddy!" rang out in unison as both Beckett and Alexis rose to see Castle slide slowly toward the floor trailing blood on the wall behind him. Both were on him before he settled fully to the carpet. Everything else forgotten in their wake.

"No no no no no" Beckett muttered through welling tears as she pulled off her scarf and shoved it into the open wound in his chest, "Please dear God, no..." as Alexis wailed piteously over her fallen father.

Castle reached up to Kate and said "Tttake care of...lexis...yyyy ppromised.." before coughing up blood and losing consciousness.

The only sound to be heard over Beckett's tearful prayers, and Alexis' keening wail was the loud, autocratic voice of Captain Gates over the phone: "This is Captain Victoria Gates, 12th Precinct, we have a 10-13 in progress, shots fired, civilian down, we need a bus and a medical examiner,immediately"

**(moments before)**

Castle had gotten to the morgue, hoping to pick up Alexis and beat a hasty retreat from the 12th Precinct without coming into contact with Lanie, or with Kate, at least not today. He had a plan in mind for Beckett. They'd cleared the air with that huge fight they'd had before he left for Virginia, and he'd had quite a lot of free time on his hands while he was there on the FBI's dime.

Agent Shaw had been impressed enough with his perspective on the criminal mind that she wanted him to go over some evidence she had on her latest serial killer Du jour while he was there. Though the idea of tracking serial killers had lost most of it's appeal the last time he'd encountered one.

He'd spent most of his downtime writing, and pondering his behavior over the past few weeks after learning that Kate had lied to him and feeling deeply ashamed of himself for being such an immature jackass.

Mother had tried to talk sense into him, but he'd ignored her. He went right back into the precinct and had done his damnedest to drive Kate away. The trip to Vegas and the fling with the flight attendant was a new (well okay, not so new) low for him. The doubts that Sophia had slipped into his brain so many weeks before had fully come home to roost. He felt like an idiot.

He had something big, something perfect, something absolutely romantic planned to make amends. He owed her no less after his huge overbearing stream of jackassery. Yes she'd hurt him, but given their ties she had deserved better. Ryan and Espo had made that even more abundantly clear to him the night before he left for Virginia when they stopped by the house and not-so-subtly warned him to tread lightly.

No such luck. Lanie met him at the door to the morgue before he even had it all the way open.

"If you're looking for Alexis, she's upstairs delivering paperwork to Kate," she said with a twinkle in her eye. Rick reminded himself to find some harmless form of revenge for sabotaging his exit strategy. "if you even think about starting a fight with her when you get up there, Imma follow you home and smack you."

Castle rolled his eyes and headed for the door. After the elevator arrived bearing Ryan, Esposito, and their handcuffed prisoner on their way up to the precinct he very jovially regaled them with the cliff notes of his trip to Quantico. They seemed to get a kick out of seeing him in a better mood than he had been in when he left. Upon exiting the elevator he saw Alexis at Kate's desk getting the ME paperwork signed for. By the time Alexis saw him and let out her chorus of "Dad!" He was right next to his chair at her desk, and said

"Kate, how's the murder business?"

Her response let him know he was missed anyway which was a very good sign after all the angry words that had passed between them when he'd revealed he'd been looking into her mom's case again behind her back. She seemed genuinely glad to see him.

Next thing he knew a voice behind him said "You've ruined everything, you bitch!"

Kate shoved Alexis to the floor while drawing her weapon and shouted "Gun!" just as Castle shouldered her to the ground. He barely heard the shots when all of a sudden the right side of his chest felt like it was on fire as he was spun around and slammed into the wall.

Two more shots then he heard the shouts of "Castle!" and "Daddy!" as both Kate and Alexis were on him. As she was pushing her scarf to his chest (_wasn't it white a second ago, not red?_) he reached up and she took his hand fighting back tears.

"Take care of Alexis, like you promised." he'd tried to say, but it got garbled by the blood rising in his throat.

He stared up at her, then Alexis for a moment, could have swore he heard Captain Gates' voice, then saw only shadows...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Castle's eyes opened narrowly at first to the sound of a regular beeping. He felt blissfully numb as the world slowly began to come into focus around him. He felt the cannula in is nostrils first as he took in a ragged shallow breath. The next thing he noticed was how difficult it was to fully inhale.

He looked down at himself and noticed the hospital gown for the first time and groaned aloud. He turned his head to one side and it was then that he saw Kate, asleep in the chair next to his hospital bed. A blanket, not quite covering her lean, athletic frame. Her hair a disheveled riot of curls as if she hadn't brushed it in days. He nearly wept at the sight of her. At that moment, the images of his shooting started to flood back into his mind.

_**Alexis had seen him get shot**_. Where is she?

He called her name aloud. The beeping began to speed up, which drew Kate from her rest, as she woke with a start. She was at his side in a heartbeat and took his hand.

"Castle?" she called out, her voice breaking, "Thank God you're okay!"

She flashed that same megawatt smile she'd given him in the bank after she'd had cut his bonds.

"Alexis?" Castle croaked.

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, "I had Javi drive her and Martha home. She was done in, poor thing. I promised them I'd call as soon as you woke up."

With that, a nurse came in and took his vitals, noting he was awake, then admonishing her not to get her patient too worked up. As the nurse was leaving, Ryan poked his head into the room.

"Hey there super-cop good of you to join us!"

He rushed out the door as Kate dialed the Castle loft on her cell, and returned shortly with Espo and Lanie close behind followed by his wife, Jenny who had been holding vigil outside. Lanie, with a haggard expression leaned as if to kiss him on the forehead, and pinged him on the side of his neck.

"Richard Castle, don't you ever scare me like that again!" Then burst into tears to be comforted by Esposito, who said "We're really glad you're OK, bro, but do us all a favor and duck next time, okay?"

Castle weakly brought his fist up and Espo very gingerly bumped it with his own.

"Don't worry, my boy Ryan and I got the son of a bitch."

Ryan nodded his ascent, as he took his wife in one arm and kissed her. It had been a very long day.

**The previous day:**

As the paramedics surged out of the elevator and took over working on Castle from an increasingly distraught Kate, she took the keening Alexis by the arm and pulled her back, barely able to make a hoarse whisper as she said "Alexis, we need to let them work."

The frightened girl buried her face in Kate's chest and sobbed, but didn't fight the embrace Kate wrapped her in. Both of them staring desperately at the paramedics working on the man they both loved for different reasons.

As they stabilized the stricken mystery writer and headed for the elevator, the doors parted, Lanie and one of her assistants stepped out, as she noted the identity of the man on the gurney, her face turned ashen as she next turned her gaze on Kate and Alexis as they passed her to follow the paramedics out.

She gave orders to her assistant to take over and was instantly swallowed up in Javi's embrace.

"Oh my God...it's all my fault! If I hadn't sent them up here.."

Espo would have none of it. He shushed her and stroked her hair, then barked out. "Ryan, let's move, Beckett is gonna need backup!"

The three of them bolted out the door to the stairs, leaving Captain Gates in charge of the scene.

….

The ride in the ambulance had been a blur for Kate Beckett as she held Castle's hand. Javi, Ryan and Lanie had taken charge of the panicked Alexis, and were following close behind. She watched the Paramedics continue to work on him as if in a dream. Gone was the confident, take charge NYPD detective, she was fully the woman in love, desperately clinging to the man she adored, begging him not to die.

….

The waiting room, was a tense mass of confusion and fear. Alexis was sobbing into Lanie's shoulder as Kate rounded the corner, still in shock. Alexis rose and was on her almost instantly, grief boiling into rage, she struck her in the face with an open hand

"You!" she screamed, "My dad wouldn't be in there if it wasn't for you!" then broke down sobbing as she weakly pummeled her shoulders.

Kate pulled the terrified, sobbing girl into her arms and hugged her close, barely containing her own.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry" Alexis repeated as Kate stroked her red hair.

At that moment Martha Rogers burst into the room radiating both desperation and fear for her son, mixed with an experienced actress' fine tuned control. Alexis broke their embrace and ran straight for her grandmother, and Martha gathered her up.

"What happened to my son!" she hissed at Beckett.

"It's not her fault ma'am," Ryan broke in. "if it's anyone's it's mine. I'd only looked away from the prisoner for a second. I don't know how he slipped the cuffs..."

as he trailed off,Espo gave him a sharp glance, "None of us were ready for that, bro, it's not all on you."

It was Alexis who broke the angry tension when she said "Detective Beckett saved my life, Grams..if she hadn't pushed me under her desk...then daddy pushed her over me..." and started sobbing again.

Martha collapsed into herself, "Somehow I knew this day would come." and pulled the still shaken Beckett into the embrace she shared with her granddaughter. Tears flowing unabashed down her cheeks.

Moments later, the trauma surgeon walked out into the waiting room, and approached Martha, Alexis and Beckett, and cleared his throat to get their attention.

"My name is Dr. Anderson, I worked on Mr. Castle. It was touch and go for a little while there but he is stable now. Besides the entry and exit wounds, he had a punctured lung, and a deep laceration in his right shoulder but his chances for a full recovery look very promising. We should know for sure in the next few days."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief at this news. Kate blinked back tears and replied, "This is his daughter and his mother, is it possible for him to have visitors?"

The doctor nodded at Martha and Alexis and said, "It will probably be a day or two before he regains consciousness, we're keeping him heavily sedated so he doesn't put too much stress on his injured lung, but once he comes out of recovery, I should be able to let you visit him."

Martha thanked him politely. The stress of maintaining her composure during all of this chaos had taken a heavy toll on her, and she felt very tired all of a sudden.

….

Twenty minutes later, as the three of them entered Castle's private room, they heard the steady beeping of the heart monitor keeping time with Rick's heartbeat. Alexis abandoned her grandmother's embrace and dashed over to her unconscious father's bedside, kissed him on the forehead, and clutched his hand tightly in her own. Kate pulled a chair over for her to sit on, and the young redhead lowered her face to her father's uninjured left side and began to sob quietly.

The scene in front of Kate Beckett broke her heart. Hot tears streamed unimpeded down her cheeks as she gazed at the man she loved more than anything in this world struck down, but thankfully not destroyed.

"You really do love him, don't you?" Martha asked her quietly.

Without missing a beat, Kate replied, "Yes, I do...always."

Martha took her into a hug as Kate finally broke down and began to sob, "I should have told him a long time ago." He could have died today, without ever hearing me tell him I love him."

Martha stroked her hair, and replied "Yes kiddo, I know, but it's all right now." Maternal instinct slowly took over from her own lingering fear, as she felt Kate's quiet choking sobs melting away the last lingering doubts in her mind about weather her son had finally chosen the right woman.

**One hour later:**

Alexis had been completely exhausted, and had only agreed to be taken home after Kate promised her that she would call as soon as her father woke up, or something changed. When Javi and Lanie returned from dropping Martha and Alexis off at the loft, Lanie gave Beckett some clean clothes they had picked up at her apartment so she could change out of the bloodstained outfit she had on.

When she returned to Castle's room, she found Captain Gates there. She had relieved Javi and Ryan of their sidearms for the required IAB post shoot review, apparently. Kate was impressed that "Iron Gates" had even brought flowers, and had just finished placing them on Castle's bedside table.

"I am relieved that Mr. Castle is going to recover, Detective, and if you tell him that I actually do care about him, I'll bust you back to traffic."

Kate smiled and said "Yes sir." as Gates swept imperiously from the room.

Upon her departure, Ryan was the first to break the silence. "I should probably go home and check in, the shooting has probably hit the news by now, and Jenny will be freaking out, I'll be back."

As if on cue, his cell phone began to ring. Before he took it out to answer, Kate called out to his back, "You should probably get that shiner looked at too!"

Ryan turned, flashed her a weak grin, muttered "You should see the other guy." then beat a hasty retreat while exchanging "I love yous" with his wife as he disappeared into the elevator. After about an hour, he returned with Jenny in tow, bearing baked goods. Everybody tried to at least nibble on something, but nobody was really very hungry.

Lanie poked her head into Castle's room to offer Kate something to eat, only to see her passed out in the chair next to Castle's bedside. With a wistfully sad expression, she unfolded a blanket from the unused bed in the room and covered her friend with it. She absentmindedly checked Castle's chart, and satisfied that it was in order quietly crept out of the room.

**An hour later:**

A very distinguished looking man in his mid-sixties strode from the elevator wearing a doctor's coat with all of the correct identification badges. He walked silently past the dozing occupants of the waiting room with an unusually fluid grace for a man of his age, and entered Castle's room.

He looked first at Kate, asleep in her chair, then at Rick Castle. After reading his chart, the harsh, stoic features of his face softened noticeably as he moved to his bedside, shifted a lock of hair out of Rick's face, then kissed him on the forehead.

"Not to worry, son this will all be over soon, help's coming." He said in a barely audible whisper, then turned on his heel, and moved with crisp military precision out the door

As he closed on the elevator, he pulled out a cell phone and dialed a number from memory. When the line picked up, he began issuing orders with the tone of a man who expects to be instantly obeyed.

"I want assets on the ground in Manhattan ASAP. I want round the clock surveillance and protection details on the apartments of one Richard Castle, yes I mean the author, and one Detective Katherine Beckett, NYPD, and I want it done _yesterday_. Find Smith, I want him in my office in one hour!"

As he closed the line, he muttered to himself, "Go after my son, will you? You want a war, you son of a bitch, you've got one." The elevator doors closed on a very powerful, dangerous man on a mission.

**The following morning**

Alexis bounded into her father's hospital room, a blur of red red hair and unfettered joy at seeing her father awake again. _"DADDY!"_ she exclaimed, wrapped her slender arms around his neck, and kissed his cheek. Castle wrapped his good arm around his daughter's back and held her tight, his relief to see his family again evident in his blue eyes. Martha entered close behind and leaned down to kiss her son on the forehead.

"Richard, darling now that you are again among the ranks of the living, I knew you would be incredibly bored in these accommodations, so I brought you some things to help you pass the time."

She slid his laptop onto the bedside table along with a bag of small travel games she had found in the hospital's gift shop.

Rick looked up, nodded toward Alexis and Kate, and replied, "Thanks mother, but I think I have everything I'll ever need."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"_Dad is coming home today_!"

This thought had been bouncing around inside of Alexis Castle's head since she woke up that morning. She had called Dr. Parish and requested a personal day from working in the lab as soon as she'd found out that her father was to be released from the hospital this afternoon. From the moment she heard her response of _"Of course, sweetheart, give him a hug from me."_ and hung up the phone, she began scurrying all over the loft trying to make everything perfect for her father's return. She was practically giddy with excitement until she got to the door of her father's office.

She paused there for a moment, unsure. No one had been in there since the night of his shooting and she felt a moment's chill run up her spine. She remembered being carried in the door of the loft by Detective Esposito, when he and Dr. Parish had brought them home the night he was shot as if through a dark fog, like it was a terrible dream.

She had been a mess that night, after changing from her bloodstained work clothes (which she hasn't seen since, not even the shoes) into her pajamas, she had refused to go to her room and had instead curled up in an inconsolable heap in the over-sized sofa in his office hugging the photo of herself and her father from when she was four he kept in his desk. Rather than push her, Gramms had simply retrieved the comforter and a pillow from her bed and did her best to make her comfortable.

When the call had come in the following morning that he was awake and asking about her, she practically flew to her room to shower and change. She wanted to look perfect when she went to see him. She had rarely stopped smiling since.

The past week while he was in observation had been made a lot easier by Detective Beckett...Kate, she corrected herself. She stopped at the loft every morning for breakfast, and drove her to the ME's office. (where she was mother henned by Dr. Parish most of the day) She re-arranged her lunch break so it matched hers so they could go visit dad together, even stopped by her school (which had given her time off due to her father's shooting) to pick up her homework for her. She stopped by the hospital with her every night on their way home, too. She acted more like a mother with every passing day than her own mother did. Any lingering resentment she may have once felt about her in the past, now totally forgotten.

Alexis shook off her hesitation, entered her father's study, cleaned and dusted every single surface she could reach, then placed the photo of herself and her father back in his desk. She had taken it to bed with her every night like a talisman to ward off evil. She kissed her fingers and touched the glass over his image with them before closing the drawer. With her father coming home, she felt whole again for the first time in what seemed like forever. Her reverie only broken by the sound of her grandmother calling her to help in the kitchen. She was preparing a feast rivaling the one she had cooked after the bank robbery incident. All would soon be right in her universe.

**Meanwhile at the hospital:**

Richard Castle gingerly slid his bandaged right arm into the sleeve of the blue shirt Kate had brought for him to wear home. His shoulder was badly bruised from striking the wall at the precinct, and he winced slightly as it registered it's disapproval. The bandage over his exit wound itched as he drew the shirt over his back. His discomfort subsided as he buttoned it up, tucked it into his slacks and buckled his belt.

Ryan and Jenny had come in a few minutes earlier to collect his other belongings and load them into Kate's car. Jenny gave him a pained concerned look, full of sympathy when she thought he wasn't looking that will probably haunt him forever. _"Ryan is a very lucky man."_ he mused to himself, then turned and headed for the door to a waiting Kate Beckett, who took him by the arm as they headed for the elevator doors. Her face lit up in a smile that warmed him from head to toe, and almost made him forget about the discomfort of his injuries.

As he lowered himself into Beckett's car, he winced slightly, as his back muscles tightened, tugging on the scarring of the exit wound. This elicited an expression of concern from Beckett, whose hand momentarily went to the scar on her own chest sympathetically before she caught herself.

Castle looked up at Beckett and remarked, "I guess we really are a matching set now, right?"

She wrinkled her nose slightly, cuffed him lightly on his good shoulder, and replied, "You're terrible!" and giving him a mischievous smirk, as she started the car to pull out of the parking garage.

Near the entrance of the parking garage, a nondescript man in a dark suit was sitting in the driver's seat of a black sedan with tinted windows. He raised a finger to the headset in his right ear and said " Team lead, this is four, subject is on the move headed to your position, nothing to report, moving out." He then started the sedan, waited a few moments and pulled out of the parking garage a discreet distance behind them.

**Twenty minutes later:**

Alexis Castle leaped from the couch as she heard the familiar sound of keys in the front door of the loft. When the door opened her father stepped into the house, followed shortly by a beaming Kate Beckett. She rushed to her father, and careful of his injuries, threw her arms around him in a warm hug. In spite of his discomfort, Richard Castle picked her up and spun her around the room hugging her close to his chest.

_I'm gonna feel this later,_ he thought to himself, _but I don't care, it'll be worth every second._ and kissed the most precious thing in his life on her forehead. He was home.

"Richard, darling," a positively radiant Martha said as she swept into the room, "as I know how horrible hospital food can be, I have prepared a feast fit for the occasion!"

She looked over at Kate who was looking at the man she adored embracing his child with a mix of wonder and amusement, and said "Kate you simply _must _stay, and celebrate this joyous occasion with us! _I insist_!"

The megawatt smile returned to her face, as Martha took her by the arms and gently pulled her toward the family table. Castle finally put his giggling daughter down, managing to stifle a slight grimace as he did so, and the two of them joined them, sitting down to marvel at the food Martha had prepared, she had really outdone herself, yet again.

Rick grinned from ear to ear and said, "My three favorite girls, all in the same room, I am the luckiest man alive!" They dug in, as Kate and Alexis began to regale him with everything he'd missed at the precinct since he'd been gone.

After dinner, Martha gave Alexis a gentle nudge under the table, she rose and said, "I have to go back to school tomorrow, and I _really _need to study for that makeup exam. Gramms and I will get the dishes later, dad, love you." She kissed him and then made a beeline for the stairs leading to her room. Martha similarly made her own exit after kissing him on the cheek, and giving Kate's hand a gentle squeeze.

Kate and Rick looked at each other for a moment, casually walked out to the living room and sat on the couch. Kate locked her arm in his and curled up next to him. Inexplicably, she began to cry.

"I thought, I'd lost you when I saw you lying there." she said between sobs "I don't think I could have ever gone back there if you'd, if you'd..." she trailed off, unable to finish that train of thought, and buried her head into his arm.

He pulled her closer into his arms and said into her hair, "Shh Kate , it's okay, I'm right here, everything is going to be all right."

She looked up into his eyes, hers brimming with tears and said, "I love you Richard Castle."

He pulled her back into his embrace and replied, "I love you too, Kate, always."

**The End.**


End file.
